Amaralina Wind Statistics, Spring averages since 2006

The graph illustrates how frequently and how strongly the wind blows from different directions over a normal southern hemisphere spring. The largest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue indicates the strength, with dark blue strongest. It is based on 8724 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2006, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Amaralina, located 3 km away (2 miles). There are not enough recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. No doubt some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3.

According to the model, the most common wind at Amaralina blows from the SSE. If the rose plot shows a nearly round shape, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Amaralina. On the other hand, dominant spokes show favoured directions, and the more deep blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. During a typical southern hemisphere spring, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (the lightest shade of blue) about 1.1% of the time (1 days each southern hemisphere spring) and blows offshore just 3% of the time (3 days in an average southern hemisphere spring). Over an average southern hemisphere spring winds exceeding >40kph (25mph) are not expected, but 2 have winds on the range 30-40 (19-25) at Amaralina

IMPORTANT: Beta version feature! Swell heights are open water values from NWW3. There is no attempt to model near-shore effects. Coastal wave heights will generally be less, especially if the break does not have unobstructed exposure to the open ocean.